Desert Invasion - U.S.

Pictures of La Perra Flaca

We reported in 2004 that La Perra Flaca (Spanish for "The Skinny Bitch") is a trailer town north of Wilcox, Arizona. Illegal aliens purportedly lived there in poverty while working at the Dutch-owned Euro Fresh Farms tomato hothouse farming operation a mile away. Euro Fresh purportedly had a policy of hiring illegal alien workers at lower wages than they could pay American workers. There are several such operations in Arizona.

Current information as of 2009 from a local contact is that things have really turned around, with very few, if any, illegals - according to the report of one individual. It was also noted that Eurofresh is said to be a great benefit to Willcox, denoting money to all kinds of activities and clubs, as well as providing ample customers for retailers in the area.

On February 26, 2009, in email correspondence with Fred Elbel, an administrator of Euro Fresh Farms stated "We in fact do have a large amount of 'Mexicans' working here but they are not illegal... We have to provide SSN to Social Security Number Verification Service (SSNVS) before we hand an offer
letter to the applicant. I have personally seen people walk out because they couldn't provide a legit SSN. That is how I know they are legal."

Elbel replied: "Do you use E-Verify?" (A very fast and accurate federal system for determining employment elegibility of new employees). At that point the representative refused to engage in further discussion.

Saddled with $300 million in debt, Eurofresh Inc., a hydroponic vegetable grower and major regional employer, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday in Phoenix.

Blaming the filing on its debt burden, labor troubles and crop pest problems, the company said it plans to continue operating after reaching agreement with key creditors to quickly reorganize under bankruptcy protection...

The company also cited labor problems, including a shortage of workers "due to changes in immigration policy" and an ongoing investigation of its hiring practices by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

It should be noted that there have been no changes in legal immigration policy and that the US still takes in one million legal immigrants - more than all other countries combined. Perhaps the company meant to say "illegal immigration".